Random drug searches could be coming to six Monmouth County schools

A panel that included several Bergen County police chiefs expressed concern about posting armed guards in schools.File photo

Students at six Monmouth County high schools may soon have to submit to random drug searches.

The Asbury Park Press reports that officials from the Freehold Regional High School District – which includes Colts Neck, Freehold, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan, Marlboro high schools – are reviewing district policy to see if random searches should be authorized.

The potential policy change follows the arrest of Tinton Falls resident Shawn Hannon, an assistant baseball coach and paraprofessional at Manalapan High School, as part of a drug sweep that netted more than two dozen arrests earlier this month.

Hannon was charged with multiple drug-related offenses, including possession of a controlled dangerous substance with the intent to distribute, for the marijuana and 30 Oxycodone pills police said he had in his possession.

Authorities confirmed for the Asbury Park Press on Tuesday that the investigation does not center upon Manalapan High School or any other district employees.

But Nicole Hazel, the district’s chief academic officer, told the newspaper that the district is still working with an addiction specialist to examine policies and procedures, and that a substance abuse counselor is already in place in each of the district’s six high schools.

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“All of us, our heads are not in the sand on this issue,” Hazel said. “As a whole, we are addressing the matter.”

The school district's existing policy provides for locker searches under specific conditions and only after the building principal has determined “reasonable grounds” exist, while staff and district equipment are permitted to be searched without a warrant.

The purpose of the ongoing policy review is “to see if our district is going to take next steps,” Hazel said.